A Core Competence Product Evaluation
Ok, So What’s Wrong: Diagnostics and Monitoring
Two rudimentary diagnostic and monitoring utilities were provided with the Digi International Windows 95 software we downloaded from the web. Both were DOS programs, executed through Windows 95 DOS emulation. You’ll need to reset the "close on exit" property for DOS emulation windows or run these programs from a batch file that includes "pause" to view program output.
The line status utility produces the following output when the ISDN line is improperly installed (e.g., bad cable, not plugged into the RJ-45 jack correctly).
lineinf -v
Lineinf - Version 2.00
Copyright 1992-1996, Digi International Inc. All rights reserved
Line: DATAFIRE - ISA1U-Line0
Layer 1 Tx State: Stop! (0)
Layer 1 State: INFO 0
Layer 1 Rx State: Stop! (0)
Layer 1 Rx State: INFO 0
Layer 2 State: Stop! (0)
Layer 2 State: Initialized
Layer 3 State: Stop! (0)
Layer 3 State: Awaiting Layer 2 Establishment
Layer 3 State: Stop! (0)
Layer 3 Service: Not Determined
A correctly-connected ISDN line produces the following output.
lineinf -v
Lineinf - Version 2.00
Copyright 1992-1996, Digi International Inc. All rights reserved
Line: DATAFIRE - ISA1U-Line0
Layer 1 Tx State: Go! (2)
Layer 1 State: INFO 3
Layer 1 Rx State: Go! (2)
Layer 1 Rx State: INFO 4
Layer 2 State: Go! (2)
Layer 2 State: Multiframe Established
Layer 3 State: Go! (4)
Layer 3 State: Active
Layer 3 State: Go! (2)
Layer 3 Service: Full
The trace utility can be used to generate a variety of ISDN protocol debug message logs, as illustrated by the option output shown below.
trace
Digi ISDN BRI Trace - Version 2.00
Copyright 1992-1995, Digi International Inc. All rights reserved
Usage - trace -a -p -l2 -l3 -raw -?
-a - trace all lines
-p - show decode for all ISDN Protocols
-l2 - show decode for ISDN Layer 2 (Q.921)
-l3 - show decode for ISDN Layer 3 (Q.931)
-raw - show raw hex dump of all ISDN Protocols
-? - show this screen
These utilities are pretty low-level. Unless you’re an ISDN protocol guru, you’ll probably need to tap on Digi International if you have installation or configuration problems.
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